Performance of Ferrolure+ pheromone in the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) management in date palm growing areas of Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) has caused huge losses to date palm in Sindh province, main producer of dates in Pakistan. Due to lack of knowledge and availability regarding aggregation pheromones, mainly pesticides are used for its management. Therefore, seasonal monitoring of RPW was conducted at five talukas of Khairpur (Khairpur, KIngri, Kot Diji) and Sukkur (Rohri, Saleh Pat) districts of Sindh using Ferrolure+® (4-methyl-5-nonanol and 4-methyl-5-nonanone), ChemTica International, Costa Rica. Data was collected during pre-sucker transplanting season (after hibernation), main-sucker transplanting season (very active period due to the sucker transplantation) and post-sucker transplanting season (period after sucker’s plantation). Results indicated that significantly higher populations of RPW were recorded during main sucker planting seasons, followed by pre- and post-sucker planting seasons. Comparatively more RPW were captured at Sukkur than Khairpur during pre-sucker transplanting season only, whereas no significant difference in RPW captures was recorded during main- and post transplanting seasons. The sex ratio of captured females was almost double than males at all study locations during entire study. Relative humidity along with minimum and maximum temperature showed a significant effect on performance of Ferrolure+ to attract RPW. Therefore, use of Ferrolure+ pheromone traps should be included as the key integrated component in date palm orchards of Pakistan in general and Sindh in particular to keep the RPW below threshold.